SALT LAKE CITY -- Andre Miller and Keith Van Horn were among the great former Utah players on hand to watch Rick Majerus' sweater raised to the rafters.

The struggling 2012-13 Utes followed the script by building a 22-point lead during an old-school basketball clinic held at Colorado's expense and then holding on for a wild 58-55 victory over the Buffs on Saturday at the Huntsman Center.

Spencer Dinwiddie (game-high 18 points) nearly brought CU back as the visitors closed the game on a 24-7 run over the final 10 minutes.

However, the sophomore point guard missed a free throw with a chance to tie the score with 53.6 seconds left and turned the ball over when the Buffs had a chance to take the lead in the final 10 seconds.

Dinwiddie's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was long, which allowed the Utes (10-11, 2-7) to celebrate their first Pac-12 home victory on a court where the late Majerus rarely lost from 1989-2004.

"I take full responsibility for the loss. I missed free throws, I missed the last shot, I had the turnover," Dinwiddie lamented outside a stunned visitors locker room. "It's on me. It's my fault we lost and I'm not the reason we came back. It was the team that played defense."

After a halftime ceremony honoring Majerus, Utah went on an 18-2 run. Jason Washburn (13 points, 11 rebounds) made the first two field goals of the second half and completed a three-point play to give the Utes a seemingly commanding 40-25 lead.

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CU missed its first seven shots and did not score after the intermission until a Xavier Johnson bucket 5:47 into the second half.

After two free throws following a technical foul on Tad Boyle and a 3-pointer by Cedric Martin -- which was banked in -- the Utes had a 49-27 advantage with 12:24 remaining.

"No excuse for that showing," a visibly disappointed Boyle said. "We had a week off and we're going against one of the teams that had been struggling to win in our league. They hadn't won a home game all year and they hang the first one on the Buffaloes.

"I'm frustrated that we didn't have the sense of urgency in the first 32 minutes that we showed in the last eight minutes."

The Buffs (14-7, 4-5) didn't wave a white flag.

Dinwiddie hit a momentum-changing 3-pointer and was able to cap an 18-4 spurt with a mid-range jumper to close the deficit to 53-45.

A 3-pointer by Sabatino Chen brought CU to within 54-50 and forced Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak to call a timeout as the natives really started to get restless.

"With two minutes to go you could really feel the pressure coming down on them," Andre Roberson said after posting his fourth consecutive double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) against Utah. "They were making poor decisions and we were capitalizing on them, but it wasn't enough."

A steal and layup by Roberson made it a one-point game (54-53) with 1:39 left. Then Jarred DuBois stopped the bleeding for the Utes after drawing a foul call against Chen and knocking down a pair of free throws.

Dinwiddie scored on a fearless drive but was unable to complete the three-point play that would have tied the score at 56.

After getting a defensive stop, CU was trailing 56-55 and had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. Dinwiddie turned the ball over -- the Buffs' 14th turnover of the game -- with 9.7 ticks left.

"Our philosophy in that situation is we want to get it out quick at the end of the game and jam it up their throats before they get their defense set," said Boyle, who did have a timeout to use. "We don't want to turn it over, which we did. I kick myself for that, but that's the thought process behind that."

Glen Dean made a pair of free throws on the other end to make it a three-point cushion before Dinwiddie's final heave.

Utah won despite not making a field goal over the final 10:44.

"We were still fighting, and I felt the sense of urgency that our team had," Roberson said. "It felt like we could have taken the game over at the end and it just didn't happen."

The Buffs trailed 31-25 at the intermission after committing 10 turnovers and shooting 39.1 percent from the field.

Utes freshman Jordan Loveridge, who was recruited by CU, did not play due to a knee injury. The 6-6, 230-pound forward is leading Utah in scoring (12.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg).

Jeremy Olson picked up the slack by making four of his first five shots, including a basket to tie the score 17-17 with 9:02 remaining in the first half. He finished with 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting to help Utah finish with a 22-8 edge in bench scoring.

In the first home game after Majerus' Dec. 1 death, the Utes shot 67.5 percent from the field during a 77-56 victory over Boise State. Utah, despite the near-collapse down the stretch, was 22-for-48 (45.8 percent) shooting against the Buffs.

CU will have to regroup and figure out how to play a complete game on the road at No. 10 Oregon on Thursday.

"I don't think there's any question that this team has heart, but we have to show it for 40 minutes," Boyle said. "I thought we were beyond that point, it's February. We should know that."

Fast break

What went right

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 18 points, Andre Roberson posted his fourth consecutive double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) against Utah, and the Buffs cut a 22-point deficit in the second half to one point in the final moments.

What went wrong

CU missed eight free throws and Dinwiddie committed the Buffs' 14th turnover of the game with 9.7 seconds left and a chance to steal the win.

Star of the game

With star freshman Jordan Loveridge (12.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg) out with a knee injury, Jeremy Olsen came off the bench to score 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting to spark the Utes.

What's next? The Buffs will travel to Eugene to play No. 10 Oregon on Thursday (8 p.m., ESPNU).

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